Since the unofficial end to the lockout last weekend, news has hit us fast and rapidly. With so much information breaking left and right, we’re starting a new featured post this season highlighting suggested links on opponents, the league and of course the Kings.
- Sacramento parking spaces and garages have emerged as a potential game-changer in the battle to build a new arena. However, new findings reported by the Sacramento Bee’s Ryan Lillis, Dale Kasler and Tony Bizjak suggest they may not be as valuable as the city originally hoped. “But with a pivotal City Council decision on the deal scheduled in less than two weeks, city officials say those parking spots may not be as valuable as originally hoped. City Manager John Shirey told The Bee on Thursday that the assessed value of the city’s parking facilities is lower than officials’ early ‘hopes or expectations.’ The recent estimates came from financial consultants at Bank of America. Multiple sources familiar with the details of the project told The Bee this week that the city may be able get $200 million – or slightly more – in upfront cash by leasing its parking operations to a private company. That would include 7,200 spaces in garages, 5,500 on-street spaces and parking citation revenue. Shirey would not confirm that figure, but he said the new estimates are lower than originally believed. Officials have never said publicly what their early estimates were.”
- Chuck Hayes, anybody? Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle reports that the Kings are one of several teams who’ve inquired about the services of the Modesto Christian product. “Hayes has received offered from the Minnesota Timberwolves, Portland Trail Blazers, Sacramento Kings and Toronto Raptors, agent Calvin Andrews said. Andrews has also spoken with Rockets general manager Daryl Morey, though not about a specific offer. Hayes turned down an extension offer from the Rockets last June worth roughly $2.5 million per season and Andrews said offers have exceeded that.”
- Samuel Dalembert is one of the top big men available in this year’s free agent class. Will he sign with a contender? Or is he open to coming back to Sacramento? Sports Illustrated’s Sam Amick explored the possibilities: “When he last left the Kings, Dalembert was disappointed that they hadn’t reciprocated his desire to discuss an extension leading into the lockout. It was merely the latest frustration, the unwelcome capper to a 24-58 season that wasn’t nearly as enjoyable as he had hoped. An inner thigh injury forced the typically healthy Dalembert to miss training camp, and he would only hold his starting job for a little more than a month before becoming a reserve behind rookie DeMarcus Cousins. Before long, the player who the Kings had coveted for nearly two years was being mentioned as a possible trade piece because of his expiring contract worth $12.2 million and was sharing his frustrations publicly. ‘In the beginning, things were a little [rocky],’ Dalembert said. ‘If I had more [playing] time at the beginning of the season … we would probably be laughing right now about how we won 40 games.'”
- Another excerpt from today’s Cowbell Kingdom Podcast. Larry Coon discusses whether or not today’s social media climate had an impact on CBA negotiations: “If that premise was true, then it was because players had more access to information that wasn’t filtered through the union and they were able to call the union and say ‘Hey what about this?'”
- During the lockout, NBA teams removed all imagery and information of players from their digital platforms. After five months, Kings.com is featuring a few familiar faces again.
- Isaiah Thomas is moving today. (Twitter)
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